Cat Seizure

[kfowler]

My 4 year old cat has had 2 seizures. One was recently and the first was 2 months ago. His last visit to the vet was about 4 months ago for a checkup and shots. At that point he had a clean bill of health. I am worried that taking him to the vet will result in a huge vet bill that i can't afford (I can afford about $100-200). I have read that diagnosing seizures in a cat will mean lots of costly tests and they are usually difficult to diagnose. His seizures have lasted less than a minute each time. Afterwards he seems confused, but is back to normal within 10 minutes. If I took him to a vet and explained that I can't afford the tests would the vet prescribe an anti-convulsive drug like Phenobarbital without performing tests? Should I just order this drug from the internet? Or should I just monitor the seizures and hope they don't get worse?
Your comments and advice are helpful, Thanks!

[vfrohloff]

You should NOT order Phenobarbitol off the internet and give it to your cat, you could kill him. Only a vet should prescribe medications. Have you changed your cat's food recently? I had a cat who had seizures due to a food sensitivity, we put her on holistic food and she was fine after that.

[Prin]

I don't know what tests the vet would do. A lot of vets just put them on anti-seizure drugs and see if that does it, depending on the history of the cat. You'll never know how much it costs till you go and you can always say no to the tests.

oh, yeah, never give drugs the vet hasn't told you to give. That could be deadly.

[kfowler]

Hi and thanks for your responses to my post. Based on your responses I will definately not purchase any medicine from the internet for him!
Yes, his food did change about 3 months ago. I have another cat, Spot, who is overweight and has sphincter problems and the vet has recommended we give her medicinal food, which has definately helped her. The vet said it was okay to feed the other cat (Barry) the food as well.
I will certinaly try changing foods to see if that helps. I really appreciate your suggestion.
kf

[Daizy]

Just a thought but have you thought of pet insurance. I have just called this afternoon to add my new kitten to my pet insurance and it is only $17 a month. I am using Pet Plan www.petplan.ca. I only have the petselect coverage (as for my two dogs) but it covers a certain number of illnesses & accidents.

[kfowler]

Thanks for the suggestion Daizy. Do you think they would insure a cat if it already has a health problem?

[Prin]

They would as long as it has not been diagnosed by an animal health professional.

[Mrs McCormick]

have you read my threads about my young cat having seizures? What happens during your kitties seizure? Can you describe it to me? I am very interested. My Sassy is 3 and has had 4 violent seizures in 6 weeks. She is now on phenobarb, ( less than a week now) I wonder about her food so I will try to find something natural and change it. I live in a remote area so I may have to order it on line.... I look forward to chatting again... Barb

[cornizzle36]

Your pet needs medical attention. No question.